Training Software

A training software (also known as a Learning Management System) is a software application that facilitates online training. It is used by organizations - small to large - in various industries to train employees, customers, and partners.

Organizations use it extensively for the administration, tracking, reporting, and delivery of educational courses and training programs. It gives you the ability to create courses, organize employees into groups, assign training to users, and run tests and assessments.

Online training primarily includes learning over the internet, while in-person training is a traditional experience in an actual classroom setting. But which one should you choose? Here are a few key differences between the two:

• In-Person Training

  In-person training has a limited reach, which makes it challenging if you have many employees working in different locations or have a remote workforce. Moreover, it is tedious and time-consuming to manage and deliver training.

  In-person training is costly because you need to hire a subject matter expert and arrange infrastructure and equipment to deliver training. It can also be difficult to track learner progress and performance as this has to be done manually.

  Lastly, in-person training often takes time away from work. This interrupts employees’ daily tasks as they have to be physically present during the seminars. It keeps each employee learning on the same timeline, even though not everyone learns at the same rate or in the same way. As a result, those who aren’t good audio-visual learners or unable to consume a significant amount of information within the span of a single hour or day often get left behind.

• Online Training

  Online training solves the above challenges by making courses and materials available online that can be accessed from anywhere at any time. You can use training software to automate your training processes, eliminating manual work and redundant tasks.

  Moreover, online training is very cost-effective. You don’t have to book a venue, arrange transportation, bear food costs, get printed handouts, and spend time managing the training program. An online training software also makes it easier to track key performance indicators (KPIs) as everything is done through reporting capabilities.

  Online training also provides greater flexibility. It is often an excellent option for individuals that work remotely or have responsibilities that make it difficult for them to attend in-person sessions.

  Even if the course is somewhat structured, the employee can finish work according to their time frame. For example, if some module of the course needs to be completed each week, the employee can still finish work at any time during that week. They can log on throughout the day and even at night, from anywhere, to complete their work.

Training employees isn’t one-size-fits-all. There isn’t one simple answer to building perfect employee training programs. However, there are a few things that are consistently present in companies with the best eLearning initiatives.

Thinking about implementing online training across your business? Here’s what you need to have a solid foundation for running training software:

• Content

You will need to prepare your training materials and resources. Examples can include documents, images, videos, guides, and slides. It is ideal to have different types of content to make training more engaging and not tedious. You will need to have these ready in order to create your courses.

Offer your employees relevant content by personalizing and tailoring the learning experience. Focus on providing helpful, problem-solving content so that they can grow their skills. Equip them with performance-improving tools, such as visual guides, single-page job aids, and easy expert tips to follow. You can then offer deeper dives of content.

• Administrators

You need to determine who will be the ones responsible for creating content, managing and delivering training, as well as tracking the performance. Will it be one individual or will there be a few people who will split these responsibilities?

Administrators are responsible for planning and executing all training initiatives within an organization. An ideal training admin is open-minded, motivated, and invested in developing employees’ skills to help them reach their potential.

Also, this person is usually tasked with marketing the training program internally so that employees are aware of development opportunities. Other important skills include problem-solving, business acumen, and leadership skills.

• Users and Groups

You need to determine who your audience is and how you will organize and segment them. Will you split them up by role and/or department and provide specific training by that criteria? Or, will you provide general training and group your team into one bucket? Also, will users register themselves or will an admin do this for them? These are some questions that need to be answered.

• Learning Models

Decide on a learning model best suited for your organization. Some of the common learning models include: eLearning, blended learning, and instructor-led training (ILT).

In eLearning, employees are trained only online. In ILT, instructors deliver training in a lecture or classroom format, or virtually through video conferencing tools. Whereas, blended learning combines the two models. Part of the training is done online, but they still have to undergo in-person and/or hands-on training.

It’s important to define the objectives of the training program because certain training methods for employees are better suited for each one. Likewise, you should keep the target audience in mind when choosing a learning model.

• Learner Evaluation

To best judge for yourself how the class is doing, you should be able to access attendance, course completion rates, and other markers in the training software. You need to figure out how you are going to evaluate and measure learner performance.

It’s important to have this set in place so you can see how learners are progressing and if they are struggling in a particular area. Will it simply be just passing a course? Or, will you have assessments in place that they need to take and achieve a certain score?

• Reporting

Reporting will help you to see the success of your training program. You need to set up KPIs that are important to you and create reports that showcase these metrics. Overall, you will be able to see how your team is performing and if there are any improvement areas that need to be addressed.

When setting KPIs, make sure metrics give the whole picture. It is important to include quantity, quality, time, cost, and effectiveness. You’ll want to develop a benchmarking strategy for evaluating your progress towards your KPIs. Also, ensure that data and reports are easily available to provide you with the information that you need.

Training isn’t just important to any company, it is vital. It provides both the individual and organizations as a whole with benefits that make the cost and time a worthwhile investment. The ROI from training and development of employees is really a no brainer. Here are a few use-cases of training in organizations:

• Onboarding

Training new hires can impact the success of the company. It is important to provide the training and resources they need in order to be more familiar with their roles and the company policies and procedures. For this, you need to have a formal and comprehensive onboarding plan that streamlines your initiatives.

Company training software not only facilitates this but it also creates lasting impressions. It helps new employees reach a greater level of comfort, improve productivity, and become more engaged with the company.

• Internal (Skills Development, Role Specific) Training

Internal training can be diverse. For example, you may have to upskill your employees with training on new products and services. Or you may need to deliver new process training so that you can educate staff on security measures.

When it comes to delivering internal training, an LMS does the hard work so you don’t have to. It enables you to either upload your pre-existing training materials or to create new ones. You can create quizzes and surveys within the system so that you can assess learner performance and gather feedback.

• Compliance Training

As compliance training is mandatory and often legally enforced, it demands a more formal process than other L&D activities. LMS features that manage course content and reporting make the delivery and completion of compliance training easier.

Training program software allows you to conduct employee assessments, particularly for compliance training. You can create workflows that simplify assessment for compliance and other types of training. Without training software, it's harder to prove what courses were completed by which learners and when.

• External (Partner & Customer) Training

External training ensures that each partner has sufficient familiarity with the products they’ll be selling/manufacturing/distributing. They should understand how to use the catalog, access ongoing training over time, and have the right resources needed for long-term success. Likewise, customer training ensures your users know how to use your product correctly.

If the course materials are not updated in time to reflect new products or standards, your partners and customers are left with misinformation. Online training offers the ability to upgrade content in real-time and reflect those changes the very next time a user logs on.

• Mobile / Remote Workforce

If you have employees that work remotely, in-person training might not be a feasible option. Online training solves this challenge by providing access to training materials and courses at all times, from wherever your employees feel most comfortable. As long as they have an internet connection, they can get the information they require whenever they need it from anywhere.

Also, if you operate at a multinational level, chances are your remote workforce is multilingual. This means you need to ensure that they understand the online training content provided. Using an LMS platform, you can deliver content in different languages.

You’ll find plenty of online training software on the market but how do you choose the right one? Here are the different types of training software you can invest in:

Best of Breed vs Best of Suite Training Software

• Best of Breed Training Software (Standalone)

Industry analysts define a best of breed system as the best system developed to address a specific niche or functional area. The application performs specialized functions better than an integrated system. These systems are developed and sold by separate vendors.

A best of breed LMS solely specializes in LMS features and functionality. It can fulfill all your feature requirements and provide continuous improvement in the product. It's also easier to configure and offers better customer support from eLearning experts. Lastly, you will have access to advanced reporting capabilities. On the downside, maintaining multiple systems provides little cross-connectivity, which may create integration challenges.

• Best of Suite Training Software (Integrated)

A best of suite LMS is an LMS module that is integrated into a more extensive system like an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Human Capital Management (HCM) tool. It’s better suited when you want many solutions from a single vendor rather than using multiple vendors.

The main benefit of this type of LMS is the convenience as you have to work with fewer vendors. It offers a single user-interface experience, enabling ease of training. However, as LMS is part of the other solutions you use, it can be difficult to replace it due to vendor lock-in. Plus, there are potentially less options when you need additional and advanced features and functions.

Proprietary vs Open-Source Training Software

• Proprietary

Proprietary software is the one for which the software's publisher or another person retains intellectual property rights. This usually includes copyright of the source code, but sometimes patent rights.

Vendors typically limit the number of computers on which software can be used, and prohibit the user from installing the software on extra computers. It requires licensing fees per user, usually on an annual basis.

• Open-Source

It’s a type of software in which source code is released under a license. The copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.

Open-source doesn’t require a licensing fee but you will incur costs with implementation, support, and maintenance, which can add up and be unpredictable.

Ready to buy an LMS for your business? Here are five key areas to assess before you finalize one vendor:

• Establish Goals and Objectives

The key success of effective eLearning is not only to set goals but to set the right goals. So, set goals that are attainable and measurable. Also, set a proper timeline for the accomplishment of the goal. For example, ask yourself: what skill sets are you hoping to improve? What kind of end result are you hoping to implement? Will you be training the whole team simultaneously?

• Identify Your Audience

At the core of any effective training program is correctly identifying who needs to be trained, and on what skills or topics. A ‘training need’ is the gap between current performance and required performance. For instance, if you find that you have unsatisfied customers, there might be a need for customer service training for your sales team.

• Determine Essential Features

The LMS market is growing, and technology is changing every day. With a myriad of services and features available, it’s important to know which ones to prioritize. Go for LMS features which most directly benefit your business. Which features will be most useful in meeting the objectives you’ve set for your learners? Be careful though, you should never base a purchasing decision based on features alone. You risk paying too much for the bells and whistles you will not need. You also risk selecting a tool that is cumbersome and difficult to use. You won’t get much value from it if the tool is hard to use and no one is using it to its full potential.

• Evaluate Vendors

Implementing a new LMS is a major financial decision. Think of your LMS provider as your partner. You should evaluate different vendors and what they offer in your decision-making process. Examples can include, testimonials and case studies, customer support, knowledge base, and system uptime. Also, evaluate the company as a whole by looking at market experience, awards received, company culture, and so on.

• Test Drive It

Going through the list of features will let you know what capabilities the LMS has, but nothing can compare to experiencing them first-hand. Ask for a demo or request a free trial of the LMS you’re considering. This will give you a chance to test the setup in the context you will be using it. And you’ll get an opportunity to identify any potential issues that might arise before you invest.